


and i'm you and you're me

by fonulyn



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Genre: Bodyswap, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fluff and Smut, Getting Together, M/M, Piers Nivans Lives, Piers is alive and happy and healthy, a bit of hurt/comfort, and in Leon's body 8), mentions of Rebecca and Nadia and a few others
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:56:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25574680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fonulyn/pseuds/fonulyn
Summary: Leon headed straight into the bathroom, running his fingers through his hair. It felt sort of weird, but he didn’t even have the time to wonder about that before he flipped on the bathroom light and immediately spotted something strange.He was staring into a gorgeous pair of green eyes in the mirror.Eyes that definitely weren’t his own.-Or the one wherein Leon and Piers accidentally swap bodies.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Piers Nivans
Comments: 18
Kudos: 63





	and i'm you and you're me

**Author's Note:**

> this is the direct result of some fun chats [on tumblr](https://fonulyn.tumblr.com/)! it’s been a while though, I got distracted by time travel in between lmao. but finally the bodyswap is here! \o/

The loud blaring of the alarm harshly yanked Piers from his sleep. Blindly he reached for the bedside, where his phone usually was set on the nightstand, and only then realized that he wasn’t _in his own bed_. The second thing he registered was the warm back against his chest, and the happenings of the previous night came rushing back in his mind, making him grin. Vaguely he thought that he’d fallen asleep being the little spoon, but they must’ve just rolled over while asleep. All he wanted was to burrow closer against Leon, enjoy this while it lasted, make the most of it. 

At the same time he didn’t want Leon to wake up, though, so quickly he scrambled off the bed and fished his jeans from half-under the bed so he could silence the alarm. Sleepily he flipped his fringe out of his eyes, annoyed, and cast one last wistful glance towards the bed. Leon had burrowed into the covers so that all that was visible of him was the outline of his shoulder, and somehow even that managed to look so inviting Piers had to forcibly tear himself away. 

As silently as he could, Piers collected his clothes and snuck into the living room to get dressed in the dark. For a second he debated whether to leave Leon a note or not, but then decided against it as they had agreed on meeting up later, anyway. Besides, he had even more trouble than usual to even make his brain work. Sure he had expected to be tired after only a couple of hours of sleep, but _still_. This was far beyond his expectations. It was like he’d gotten hit by a truck, like no amount of sleep would _ever_ be enough to make him feel well rested again. 

At the door, Piers frowned slightly as his shoes felt weird, kind of like they were a size too big? He double-checked, and those were his own shoes, so he shrugged it off as his sleepy mind playing tricks on him and just laced them a little tighter. Mornings weren’t the best time for him anyway, and this morning the exhaustion was on a whole new level. 

Still yawning, Piers finally made it to the BSAA HQ. It was so early that there was only a handful of people around, but Piers was glad he didn’t need to be too social right now. Again he flipped his fringe out of his eyes, distantly thinking he needed a haircut. 

One of the secretaries was standing at the front desk, and Piers immediately raised his hand in a wave and smiled brightly. “Morning, Liz,” he croaked out, his voice sounding odd, probably because he was still half asleep, damnit. Immediately she blushed, smiling as she avoided his eyes, kind of like she was star struck and… that now made no sense? Usually she had some kind of a teasing remark ready for him. This was the same woman who had seen Piers throw up out of sheer nervousness during his first day here, why was she acting like this? 

Piers didn’t stop to find out, though, but instead marched straight into Chris’ office, and as expected the other man was already there to wait for him. That freaky morning person. Yawning widely, Piers bypassed knocking and instead pushed the door open and stepped right in. “Morning, Captain,” he greeted, “when are we leaving?”

Instead of answering the question, Chris turned around and frowned hard. “What the hell? Are you making fun of me?”

All traces of sleepiness were suddenly gone, replaced by sheer confusion. “What? Why would I—” he started, but that was as far as he got before Chris cut him off with an impatient hand-gesture. 

“Look, I’m not exactly thrilled to be up at six am, so I’m not in the mood for whatever you’re cooking up. Go home. Go bother Claire or something,” Chris turned around already, shuffling through some papers on his desk, obviously annoyed. But then he added the last sentence that made even less sense than telling Piers to go bother Claire. 

“Piers and I have to get going in half an hour.”

“Piers?” Piers echoed, eyes wide. What the fuck? Was Chris _drunk_!? Or was this some kind of a weird elaborate prank that Piers just didn’t understand with his sleep-deprived brain? He opened his mouth to ask he was beaten to it by Chris.

“Yeah, you know, the one you couldn’t keep your eyes off of for a damn _second_ yesterday? Made you fall face first into that bush of flowers?” The annoyed lines on Chris’ face shifted into laugh lines as he snickered, clearly fond of the memory. “ _That_ was epic though. Leon S. Kennedy, master of stealth, tripping over his own feet.”

Leon— _what_? A part of Piers’ brain was dying to ask if Leon really had been staring at him like that, but then again, the previous night was sort of proof of that already. Besides, Chris was still behaving so incredibly oddly that it was creeping Piers out, and he needed to know what the hell was going on here. Everything else could wait. “Look, Captain, I have no idea what’s happening but—”

“Seriously, Leon,” Chris said, cutting him off again. He turned back towards Piers, rubbing his temples in a gesture equal parts exasperated and exhausted. “What’s going on?”

Piers frowned. “Why do you keep calling me Leon?”

Slowly Chris let his hand drop, staring at Piers like he’d grown a second head. Wordlessly he grabbed Piers’ shoulders and spun him around, making him step next to the bookshelf where one of the polished silver trophies was as good as a mirror.

And there, on the silvery surface, Piers saw Leon’s face staring right back at him. 

“ _What_!?”

*

In all honesty Leon did try to force himself awake when he heard the alarm going off, but when he realized it wasn’t his own alarm he gave up and sank right back into the pillow. He was so pleasantly sleepy that he wanted those few minutes he still had before it was his turn to get up. Besides, he had a feeling that if he would turn around and see Piers all sleepy and adorable, he’d make them _both_ stay in bed, work be damned. So really, it was a favor for them both that he pretended to be fast asleep.

Only when he heard the front door close did Leon roll over onto his back, stretching languidly. He felt surprisingly good, considering how little sleep they’d gotten. Maybe it was the quality that compensated for the quantity. Grinning Leon thought back to what he already filed away as one of the best nights of his _life_ , thinking that maybe that was why he felt so inexplicably _good_.

Stretching lazily he rolled over again, hopping onto his feet. For some reason his ribs hurt, although he didn’t remember why, but then again he got thrown around and banged up on missions so often on a regular basis that it was no wonder. 

Leon headed straight into the bathroom, running his fingers through his hair. It felt sort of weird, but he didn’t even have the time to wonder about that before he flipped on the bathroom light and immediately spotted something strange. 

He was staring into a gorgeous pair of green eyes in the mirror. 

Eyes that definitely weren’t his own.

What the fuck? Why was Piers staring back at him in the mirror? Thinking it must’ve been some kind of a trick of his mind, Leon rubbed the heels of his hands against his closed eyelids, before blinking back at the mirror. Nothing changed. 

Immediately Leon’s heartbeat picked up, and he frantically went through the happenings of the past twenty-four hours to figure out what was going on. Leaning closer to the mirror he poked on his cheek, and when he frowned the expression in the mirror shifted as well. This definitely was his reflection, but why wasn’t it _right_?

After fifteen minutes of poking, prodding, freaking out and inspecting every part of himself, Leon reluctantly accepted that there was no way around this. Somehow, for some reason, he had Piers’ body. 

Did that mean Piers had his?

Even for someone who had a lifetime of experience with weird-ass shit, this was a little bit too much and Leon sat down on the edge of the toilet for fifteen minutes just trying to get a hold of himself. What the hell was he supposed to do now? What the hell were _they_ supposed to do now?

One thing Leon thought was for certain: Piers was probably in as much trouble as he was. 

So he got up, splashed some cold water on his – on Piers’, really – face and went to get dressed. He’d have to get into the BSAA HQ. There was no way he was going to sort this out on his own. 

Thankfully he and Piers were of similar enough size that all of his clothes fit him well enough, and it was only with the shoes that he paused for a second as his were annoyingly a tad too tight. But he just had to pick the biggest pair of boots he owned. At the door he still paused for a second, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. They’d figure this out. Somehow. They’d solve this.

*

This wasn’t the first time Leon was at the BSAA main building, but he had never in his life been this nervous about walking in those doors. He was wearing the wrong face, and he couldn’t just waltz in without paying attention on how he acted. Or well, he _could_ , but how did he know what problems he’d cause Piers if he acted weirdly while everyone thought it was him?

The first hiccup was already the woman at the front desk. Leon was in such a hurry to find Piers that he hadn’t even registered her standing there, and she apparently wasn’t satisfied with that as she immediately called out for him. “Hey, Nivans!” She tilted her head, arching an eyebrow at him. “Where’s that pretty smile that you _know_ always makes my morning?”

“Uhm,” Leon said, intelligently, as he slowed in his stride, coming to a halt right next to the desk. Tentatively he flashed a smile, hoping that it didn’t look too forced or faked. “Sorry? Won’t happen again?”

“Oh _there_ it is,” she grinned, obviously pleased. “I was already beginning to be worried.” Then she lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, leaning a little over the desk. “I saw Agent Kennedy come in earlier. You working with him again? I thought you just got back from a mission yesterday?”

“Uhm,” Leon stuttered again, cursing himself inwardly for it. But this was such a weird situation, how was he supposed to know how to handle it anyway? “I don’t know yet. I’m going to see Chr—Captain Redfield now.”

The woman gave him a little bit of an odd look but didn’t comment on it further. Apparently she thought her mission to tease was more important, as the next thing she nodded towards the leather jacket Leon was wearing. “Trying to impress the hotshot agent? I’m not sure if dressing like him is going to draw his attention.”

“Why would I—” Leon tried, but that was as far as he got before she reached out and patted his shoulder. 

“I’m keeping you too long, get going.” She leaned back again, giving him a conspiratorial little wink. “Good luck.”

And Leon only stammered out a thank you before practically fleeing. Thankfully he didn’t run into anyone else before he made it to Chris’ office, and he only quickly knocked before all but slamming the door open and bursting inside. Chris and Piers were both there, staring at him from wide eyes, and it was an indescribable feeling to see his own shocked expression on someone else.

Leon took a deep breath. “We _really_ need to talk.”

*

Chris could feel the headache coming. He rubbed his temples, leaning heavily back against his desk, before taking in the sight in front of him once again. There was Leon, looking to the side awkwardly and refusing to meet his gaze, and Piers staring at him defiantly as if challenging him to disagree with him. Except the Leon was actually Piers, and the Piers was actually Leon.

And Chris really needed a painkiller.

“So let me get this straight,” he started, crossing his arms over his chest. “You woke up this morning and you were in… the wrong bodies? Because for some reason your …minds switched places during the night?” It sounded absolutely ridiculous and Chris couldn’t believe that those were actual words coming out of his mouth. What the fuck was going on here, this was wild even for their lives. 

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Leon-looking-like-Piers rolled his eyes, pursing his lips in dismay. The expression was so unmistakably _Leon_ although it was Piers’ face making it that Chris had to blink several times to make sure he was seeing right. 

“This is really creeping me out, Captain,” Piers-looking-like-Leon said, miserably, and on the other hand seeing that kicked puppy expression on Leon’s tired face was all kinds of hilarious and Chris sort of wanted to have his camera ready so he could snap some evidence. But then again, Leon calling him Captain all earnestly kind of made Chris’ skin crawl. 

So Chris sighed, rubbing his temples again. He wondered if he had some painkillers in his desk drawer. “And you have no idea what could’ve caused this? You didn’t do anything stupid in the lab yesterday?” He knew there would be no reason for the two to have done anything so drastically stupid, but he had to ask, because this just didn’t make any sense. “Did you do something after we got back?”

The earnest expression on Piers-looking-like-Leon’s face morphed into something almost guilty, and it was admittedly kind of hilarious how Leon-looking-like-Piers had absolutely zero poker face. He was blushing already, and they were both shiftily looking away instead of straight at Chris. And if that wasn’t suspicious, then nothing was. 

“What is it?” Chris asked, frowning harder. There was no answer, both the others stubbornly staring anywhere but at Chris, and Chris was all out of patience. “Spit it out!”

“We _fucked_ , okay!?” Leon-looking-like-Piers snapped, the flush on his cheeks in crass contrast to the defiant way he was staring at Chris, as if daring him to say something about it. “Multiple times! In various positions!” Beside him, Piers-looking-like-Leon seemed to want to sink right into the ground, he obviously wanted to rather be anywhere else than here. “And _that_ certainly didn’t _cause_ this!”

Despite the situation Chris couldn’t help but be a little impressed by the ferocity of the statement. Leon might’ve been wearing Piers’ face right now but that fire in his eyes was still something Chris had known for fifteen years by now, even if he’d been afraid that years had worn it down. It was good to see that Leon still had it in him to care like _this_ , had it in him to want things for himself.

Besides, Chris hadn’t intended to argue, so he only arched an eyebrow. “Well, I didn’t assume that fucking someone’s brains out was possible in the literal sense anyway,” he said, shrugging. “Although from the way it looks, maybe you managed the impossible.”

“Could we please think about this logically,” Piers interjected, obviously done with the conversation and the turn it had taken. “We need to reverse this thing somehow, before someone else finds out. Look, maybe we need to go back to the Tuska Island? That’s where we came back from when… before… you know.” 

They all fell silent. That was the most logical suggestion, that much was clear to everyone. Yet they also knew that the island was abandoned, overrun by whatever infected remained, and probably scheduled to be neutralized anytime now. There was no way they could just wander in there and aimlessly explore their surroundings for too long. They needed a plan, they needed a strike team, and it had to happen fast.

With a sigh, Chris broke the silence. “Maybe you should just have sex again?”

*

After some rescheduling and like twenty phone calls Chris made all over, they were in transit towards the same island they’d raided the previous day. In addition to Chris, Leon and Piers it was five others, as they knew firsthand the kind of conditions they’d left behind on the island. It had been scheduled to be purged, but thankfully that hadn’t been acted on yet when Chris started his round of phone calls.

They’d agreed that the other members of the team didn’t need to know the entire situation, and so Piers was currently sitting in the cockpit with Chris, while Leon was stuck with the rest of the team. Not that he minded their company in general, but it was different when they all thought he was _Piers_ and were unable to shut up about the gigantic crush that Piers apparently had on _him_.

“You’ve got to stare at him less,” Nadia said with a smile, rolling her eyes. “He’s going to notice that you’re undressing him with your eyes whenever you get the chance.”

“I’m—What?” Leon only got out. Sure he had been aware that he and Piers had been circling each other for a while now, but realizing that it was _this_ widely known amongst Piers’ peers was still difficult to internalize. 

Another one of the BSAA soldiers, a young man whose name Leon couldn’t remember no matter how hard he tried, piped up immediately. “Yeah you’re not really doing a good job at hiding how smitten you are.” A few others muttered in agreement, and Leon didn’t know any of their names. He only knew Nadia because they had worked together in New York, but everyone else? They obviously hadn’t even done introductions as Piers knew them all and right now Leon was Piers.

“Seriously, make a move,” one of them said, “what’s the worst that could happen?”

Leon resisted the urge to tell them that he had already made a move, and that it definitely hadn’t been turned down, and that it had been a night any of them would be envious of if they knew. He didn’t say any of that out loud though, instead trying to frantically come up with something suitable to keep up appearances. “I’m not—”

“Not in love with him?” Nadia laughed. “ _Sure_.”

One of the soldiers burst into an admittedly terrible Piers-impersonation. “Oh, Agent Kennedy is _so good_ , we’re lucky he’s assisting us!” It made everyone laugh raucously, spurring the man on, and he continued with the same voice, only pitching it even a little higher. “Oh did you see the backflip Agent Kennedy did? He’s the coolest!” He even batted his eyelashes a little, bringing a hand to his cheek, before he was laughing so much that he couldn’t go on.

It didn’t matter as one of the others immediately picked up the slack. “How is Agent Kennedy so _perfect_!?” he sighed theatrically, “I wish Agent Kennedy would just notice me!”

Stunned, Leon only stared at them for a good moment, unsure what to respond. He had no idea whether Piers would just sit there and take it, or if he would laugh it off, or if he would punch these guys in the face. He didn’t know who these people _were_. So how was he supposed to know what kind of a relationship they had with Piers?

So his response was tentative at best, as he got out a “I… don’t sound like that?”

It seemed to be close enough as no one gave him weird looks, at least. Only one of the guys snorted out a laugh. “Well, that has all been _implied_. You don’t need to hold up a sign saying ‘ _Agent Kennedy Please Love Me_ ’ for us to know that’s what you want.” 

“Oh shut up,” Leon muttered. He could feel himself blushing, and he was immensely grateful when the comm. crackled and Chris’ voice told them to buckle up and prepare for landing. Everyone fell silent and he got at least a moment to try to process what he’d just been subjected to. 

The mutual attraction had been sufficiently established during the night they’d spent together, but Leon was still left reeling from the knowledge that apparently Piers was _this_ into him. Somehow Leon had assumed that Piers was in it for a bit of fun, a few hot dates and all, indulging in the phenomenal sex until something more meaningful came along.

But apparently this already _was_ more meaningful than Leon had given it credit for. He was suddenly re-evaluating every single exchange they’d had during the night, and now that he realized that long-term plans were even in the scope of possibilities he… it was all there. He’d just refused to acknowledge it. 

And somehow this all left his heart feeling full, a spring in his step, and he simply couldn’t contain himself. 

They stepped outside, and easily Leon made his way to Piers, who was standing a bit to the side methodically making sure he had all the gear he needed. It was a bit of a weird feeling for them both not to have their own guns, but they were familiar enough with all sorts of firearms to manage. 

“Hey,” Leon greeted, causing Piers to look up at him. It was so weird to see that genuine smile on his own face like this, directed at him, and a part of him was still convinced that this was some kind of an elaborate dream his brain had cooked up after a drink or two too many. 

But instead of dwelling on it for longer Leon stepped right next to Piers, giving him a grin. “Want to give your friends over there an aneurysm?”

There was a confused frown on Piers’ face – well, Leon’s face – but slowly he nodded. “Sure.”

That was all Leon needed. He tilted his chin and easily captured Piers’ lips with his own. Surprised, despite the sort-of-warning, Piers gasped and Leon immediately took that as an opportunity to deepen the contact. And it took maybe half a second for Piers to get with the program, and what had started as a quick fun thing to rattle Piers’ peers now suddenly turned into their sole focus. 

Leon didn’t even remember that he’d initiated it only to see the shocked faces of the BSAA soldiers, as suddenly his brain was chanting at him how this was a good thing, this was a solid thing, they could build something from it. Sure it had only been one night but they’d been friends for a while, neither was going in blind. 

As deep as the kiss was it wasn’t long, and when Leon stepped back he grinned. “Thanks, Agent Kennedy,” he winked at Piers, taking a few more steps backwards before spinning around and taking a few jogging steps to join the others.

*

Chris felt his headache returning. Children, he was working with actual children. All of the squad was cheering and high-fiving Leon – thinking it was Piers – while Piers stood a bit further wearing Leon’s face and the dopiest heart eyes known to man. Granted, he should’ve seen something like this coming after they’d been hit with _bodyswap_ of all things. It sounded like the plot of a bad movie he’d seen ages ago.

Thinking that he was getting too old for this shit, Chris divided the team into pairs. It was most logical if he took Piers with him, as he happened to look like Leon right now and Leon was mostly used to working solo. That meant letting the _actual Leon _go with one of the others, though, and before assigning him to Nadia Chris leaned in to mutter a “Try to behave, okay?” at him.__

__Leon saluted – wrong – and gave him a grin that instilled exactly zero confidence in Chris._ _

__They’d gone over this. Look for anything suspicious, take samples of all the vegetation, label everything clearly. It was more a data collection mission than anything else. Data collection in the midst of dozens of infected, that is, so not exactly a walk in the park, but they hoped they could work quickly in pairs._ _

__The last one of the infected fell down with a thud, and Chris lowered his weapon. They were behind the building, in the small oval garden, and he was having flashbacks to when he’d been here with Leon the previous day. Except now the Leon he was with was actually Piers, who was more fidgety than Chris had ever seen either one of them._ _

__They’d been searching the place for hours, trying to bag everything that looked suspicious even in the least, and yet they hadn’t really found anything. That was probably even adding up to the frustration and the restlessness, and Chris could understand that. So he took a step closer, getting Piers’ attention. “Hey. How’re you holding up?”_ _

__Piers gave him a little grimace, one that looked kind of odd on Leon’s face. “Been better. This is so weird.” He tugged on the collar of his shirt, squirming a little. “I’ve never been out on the field in a _button-up_.”_ _

__“I thought you liked them,” Chris grinned, and he didn’t even need to explain it any further. They both knew how intently Piers had been staring at Leon whenever he’d gotten the chance. Chris might not have teased Piers about his crush as mercilessly as the rest of his teammates, but he had noticed._ _

__“It’s different to drool after them,” Piers huffed, “than actually wear them. And I miss my gun.” He was almost pouting, and Chris sort of wanted to snap a picture of that. For blackmail purposes. “I don’t know how Leon does it, I feel like I’m so not dressed fo—” His words got cut off as he tripped over something, only managing to gain his balance in the nick of time. He’d almost fallen into a bush of yellow flowers, and somehow…_ _

__…yellow flowers._ _

__“It’s those flowers,” Chris said suddenly, as it all was so clear in his mind now. “Leon fell into them.”_ _

__“What?” Piers turned to him._ _

__“Did you come in contact with those yesterday?” Chris asked, stepping closer to the bright flowers. He was already kneeling closer to them, reaching out to bag at least a few to be taken back into the lab with them._ _

__For a second Piers frowned at him, but then he nodded slowly. “Carter was goofing around with them and when I grabbed the flower from him it… there was some kind of pollen? It made me sneeze?” Finally understanding was dawning on him, too, and he stared at Chris from almost comically wide eyes. “Do you really think…?”_ _

__“Yeah I’m pretty sure,” Chris nodded. “But let’s finish the area. Just to be safe.”_ _

__Piers still looked somewhat shaken as he nodded in agreement._ _

____

*

“I don’t like this,” Piers huffed, dramatically dropping to sit down on the couch. He tilted his head back, eyes closed, as he fought against a rising headache. How did Leon even function properly, ever since Piers woke up as him he’d felt _so tired_ he didn’t know what to do with himself. All he wanted to do was take naps, all the time. “How long are we supposed to just wait?”

“C’mon,” Leon said from the doorway, shuffling a little closer. He was almost hesitant, as if he wasn’t sure if he should be here. Despite the fact that they had agreed they should stick together until this thing got sorted out, and Piers had explicitly invited him over. “We just brought the samples to Rebecca. She’s good, but she’s not _that_ good. Give her time.”

Piers knew that Leon was right. It had been merely a couple of hours ago that they’d brought back the samples, and although Rebecca had agreed that the yellow flower was the most likely cause of this, it would still take her a while to examine it, determine how it worked, and develop an antidote – if it could be done, at all. Thankfully she had a friend who was the best plant expert in the entire universe, as she’d put it, helping her out.

But it meant that Piers and Leon were left with nothing else to do but wait.

Waiting was not what they did best.

Tilting his head, Piers cracked his eyes open and looked at Leon. It was still so strange, watching _himself_ stand right there a few steps away, knowing it was Leon instead. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to that sensation. As long as they’d kept busy it had been easier to handle, but now that they were unable to do anything panic was starting to creep in. “What if they won’t find a cure?” he blurted out what they both were thinking.

“They will.” Leon’s words were definitive. He moved closer, stopping only when he was standing right in front of Piers. “And we’ll cross that bridge if we get to it. Now,” he shifted, moved in until he had his knees placed on either side of Piers’ hips, and he was practically sitting in his lap. Slowly, he grinned down at Piers. “Would you be too weirded out if you kissed yourself?”

That succeeded in drawing a laugh from Piers and he shook his head slowly. “No.” Automatically he brought his hands to Leon’s hips, brushed his thumbs over his sides. 

Leon leaned in closer, smiling against Piers’ mouth. “I always kind of wondered how it’d be to have sex with myself,” he joked, but then crossed the last bit of distance between them and initiated a slow, tentative kiss. It didn’t feel different, really, if Piers kept his eyes closed he could imagine this was exactly like last night, when everything had still been normal. 

Eagerly, Leon was already unbuttoning the shirt Piers was wearing, and when he fumbled with a button he had to pull back to focus on it. Piers wasn’t one to stay still, though, so he leaned in and brushed his lips over Leon’s jaw, down to his neck, scraping his teeth over the tanned skin. 

That immediately drew a low moan from Leon, who stilled in his attempts and squeezed his eyes shut. “Jesus Christ, is your neck this sensitive?” he asked shakily after he’d gotten over the initial surprise, and when he opened his eyes again to look at Piers, it was easy to recognize the intent in them.

And it was only then that Piers realized the _opportunities_ this presented. He was in Leon’s body, he had the perfect chance to find out firsthand the things Leon enjoyed the most, and to file all of that knowledge away in case they’d get to do this again after things went back to normal. “Want to find out what else is?” he asked, already pushing a hand underneath the shirt Leon was wearing. 

It wasn’t hard to make Leon shudder above him, after all Piers did know all the things _he_ liked already, and could use that to his advantage. 

“C’mon,” Leon said, a little shakily, as he scrambled to get off Piers and onto his feet. “Bed. Now.”

*

“H-holy _hell_ , Leon,” Piers stuttered, his voice not even working right. That was all he managed to get out before he had to pause for breath, all coherent thoughts fleeing him. He was clinging onto Leon’s shoulders, his legs wrapped around Leon’s hips, and holy fucking hell Leon was only halfway into the first thrust and Piers already felt overwhelmed.

“Good, right?” Leon grinned, brushing a chaste kiss onto Piers’ lips. “Just wait.” The words had barely left him when he already shifted, using his entire bodyweight to sink all the way in, until his hips were flush against Piers’ ass. Or his own, whichever way one wanted to look at it in the current situation. He had to admit, he made a pretty good sight, face flushed and eyes glassy with pleasure, hair mussed up. Some distant part of him thought that he would’ve rather been staring at Piers’ pleasure slack face, but hey, this wasn’t half bad either. 

The initial answer from Piers was a low, incoherent whimper. Only after three slow breaths he got a hold of himself at least somewhat, a pitchy laugh escaping him. “F-fuck, is it _always_ this good for you?” Sure he enjoyed getting fucked, too, but now that he was in Leon’s body it all felt somehow so …amplified, an added layer to it, and _hell_ he didn’t wonder _at all_ anymore why Leon preferred this. 

“Well,” Leon drawled, but didn’t actually answer the question. Instead he moved, snapped his hips forward and made Piers’ toes curl. He leaned in, brushing his nose against Piers’, reveling in the symphony of low gasps and moans. In his mind, he was cataloguing everything that he was learning, from the way it felt when Piers scratched blunt nails down his back to his heels digging against the small of his back. 

It was surreal, yet at the same time one of the best things either of them had ever gone through. It was a learning experience that they hadn’t even considered a possibility. 

So why not make the most of it, now?

By the time they were lying in bed in a heap of sweaty limbs, tangled up in each other so closely it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began, they were so exhausted that they had no energy to worry about the antidote, the uncertainty of the situation, anything at all. Instead they gratefully welcomed the deep, dreamless sleep.

Until the morning, when they woke up and saw that nothing had changed.

So, at least they now knew that fucking it out didn’t reverse it.

*

After ushering both Leon and Piers to sit in some kind of reclined blood donor chairs, Rebecca came to stand in front of them, holding up an IV bag full of clear blue liquid. “So what we’re hoping is that this will reverse the effects of the plant’s pollen,” she explained again, this time in plain English as requested. “According to our testing, it helps when given as an antidote immediately, but since your… this…” she made a vague hand-gesture, “it’s been so long that I can’t make any promises, okay?”

Slowly Leon nodded, before settling back in his chair. “So how long will this take?” 

“You’ll be on the drip an hour, tops,” Rebecca answered without hesitation. She’d done the math. She stepped closer and hooked the bag up, working quickly and efficiently as she stuck the needle into Leon’s arm. “The actual effect might take a few hours though, no one really knows.” 

As Rebecca moved to Piers, he offered his arm for her, and in less than a minute he’d been hooked up, too. She then backed up a little, watching them with a thoughtful frown. “Since the exchange was so…” she trailed off, pausing for a second before looking up again. “I think there should be some level of physical connection for you. It’s… not something I can back up with numbers, but…”

It made sense, anyway. Easily Leon reached out and grabbed Piers’ hand, laced their fingers together. That seemed to satisfy Rebecca and she nodded, giving them a tight-lipped smile. “I’ll be back to check on you. Call me if you need me.”

“Thanks, Rebecca,” Leon said, gaining another smile from her before she slipped out of the room.

That left only the two of them. Chris had offered to come along for moral support, but they’d told him they’d handle this. Somehow it felt that merely talking about this would jinx it, would magically ruin their chances of reversing the change, and so they stayed silent for the entire time, clutching each other’s hand like a lifeline. 

At least it wasn’t instantaneous, as neither of them felt any different even when the IV bags were empty. They stayed for three more hours, Rebecca constantly hovering around them, adjusting things, frowning more and more. Eventually she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, devastated. “I thought I had it right, but…”

“It’s okay,” Piers said immediately, unable to handle how defeated she looked. 

“It’s not your fault,” Leon added, offering her a smile. “We all knew that this might not actually work.”

“I’m going to keep working on it, okay,” Rebecca promised, “and I’ll contact you the second I find something new about this.”

*

They ended up back in Leon’s apartment together since neither one of them wanted to be alone right now. Leon huffed out a breath as he slumped down onto the couch, and a little awkwardly Piers stayed standing in the doorway. “Want me to put this in the kitchen, or?” he asked, holding up the bag of takeout they’d gotten on their way. He wasn’t particularly hungry, and by the looks of it neither was Leon. Although neither of them had eaten, the failed antidote had ruined their appetite.

“Just put it on the table,” Leon waved towards the coffee table, leaning forward as he buried his face in his hands. 

Carefully Piers approached, placing a hand on Leon’s shoulder as soon as he’d set the food aside. “Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he tried, although he wasn’t feeling very optimistic either. “I don’t know about you,” he aimed for a carefree tone, halfway even managing it, “but I don’t think it’s so bad, living with your face. At least I get to be drop dead gorgeous.”

That did draw a laugh from Leon, who straightened and looked up. “It’s not the body I’m really worried about,” he answered, his smile lingering for a moment before it faded. “There’s no way we can convince my superiors that this even happened. And there’s no way people would suddenly accept I’m you and you’re me. Chris and Rebecca, they’re a different story but…” 

As Leon trailed off, Piers only nodded silently. He couldn’t deny the mere thought of going to meet his parents freaked him out. How was he going to explain to them that _hey, I am still your son but now I look like this, ta-da_! He was certain they would never even believe him. 

“They’d send you on suic—solo missions,” Leon continued, drawing in a breath. “And I don’t… I can’t let you do this. What I do.”

Slowly, as if careful not to spook Leon, Piers sat down next to him and brought a hand to his knee, giving it a small squeeze. “I can handle it. Sure we do things differently at the BSAA but… I’ve done this for a long time.”

“I know you can,” Leon looked at him, his smile not reaching his eyes. He did bring his hand atop Piers’, lacing their fingers. “But I don’t want you to. It’s not something I’d wish on anyone.”

Piers didn’t know what to say, so he only nodded silently. Shifting closer, he placed his head on Leon’s shoulder, leaning against him. “We’ll figure this out,” he said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt. “It’s only been a few days, it’s not time to give up yet.”

“I know,” Leon answered, voice soft. He tilted his head to press a soft kiss onto Piers’ forehead. “We’ve been in shittier situations, right? Both of us.”

“Yeah, and we’re still standing,” Piers added, the smile audible in his voice. “We’ll deal with this.”

*

The takeout was left forgotten on the table, as they sat there on the couch, silent and trying to process everything that had happened. At one point the lack of sleep caught up with them and as Leon shifted to settle back comfortably, Piers automatically followed until they were cuddled up. For a good while he stayed awake, listening to Leon’s even breaths, before sleep claimed him as well.

Until something pulled Piers awake, and he blinked sleepily around himself to see what it had been. A strange noise? He listened carefully but there was only silence, the snuffling breaths of the still sleeping Leon. Automatically Piers brought his hand up and brushed his fingers through the blond strands of hair, petting the head resting on his chest.

…blond? Resting on him? 

Piers practically jumped out of his skin as his sleepy brain made the connection. “Leon!” he burst out, even shaking the other man’s shoulder a little to gain his attention. “Leon wake up!”

“W-what is it?” Leon mumbled sleepily, straightening to a seated position while trying to rub the sleep from his eyes with the heels of his hands. Then he looked up, and immediately his eyes widened in shock. It was followed by the most beautiful smile Piers had ever seen _in his life_ , and Leon burst out into relieved laughter. “It worked!?”

Piers’ face already hurt from how wide he was grinning. “It worked,” he confirmed. “I’m so happy to see your face!”

Almost as if he was having a religious experience Leon reached out and took Piers’ head between his hands, traced his thumb down Piers’ cheek. He even ran the tips of his fingers along Piers’ jaw, reached up to touch his nose, and brushed his thumb along the line of his lower lip, as if he was somehow trying to make sure that what he was seeing was correct. 

Piers let him have it, patiently waited until Leon had finished. 

Finally Leon looked at him, the corners of his eyes crinkled with the way he smiled. “I’m so happy to see you, too.” Then he practically launched himself forward, and closed the last bit of the distance between them in a celebratory kiss.


End file.
